Toilet brush holder



June 17, 1969 J, RElD 3,450,452

TOILET BRUSH HOLDER I Filed Sept. 18. 1967 INVENTOR JOYCE PRU/TT REID avg/WW5 ATT'YS.

United States Patent ()tfice 3,450,452 Patented June 17, 1969 3,450,452 TOILET BRUSH HOLDER Joyce Pruitt Reid, 1316 W. 115th St., Chicago, II]. 60643 Filed Sept. 18, 1967, Ser. No. 668,504 Int. Cl. A47g 29/08; A46b 1.7/

US. Cl. 312-206 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to article containers or holders and is particularly concerned with improvements in containers for temporarily storing a toilet cleaning brush in the bathroom or elsewhere while it is not in use.

It is the custom in most well equipped homes to keep in the bathroom or wherever a toilet is provided a long handle brush for use in cleaning the toilet bowl. When used, the brush is, of course, wet and storage after use becomes a problem which is complicated by the need to make the presence of the brush as inconspicuous as possible. Brush holders for this purpose have heretofore been provided which have generally been designed to be placed on the floor in the vicinity of the toilet bowl. While these may completely enclose the brush so as to eliminate the unsightly appearance of the wet brush they must be handled when the floor is cleaned and they are free to be moved about or knocked over so that they do not serve to render the presence of the brush as inconspicuous as desired. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a container or holder for a toilet cleaning brush which permits efliective and inconspicuous storage of the brush so that it remains in a fixed place and does not require handling during normal floor cleaning operations.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a holder or container for storing a long handle toilet cleaning brush in an inconspicuous manner in the vicinity of the toilet bowl wherein the body of the holder is shaped to conform generally to the shape of the brush and its handle and provision is made for suspending the holder from a wall so that there is no need to move it during floor cleaning operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a holder for a long handle toilet cleaning brush which comprises an open face holder body having connected brush and handle accommodating compartments with the brush compartment being generally cylindrical and the handle compartment being narrow and elongate and extending from a marginal portion of the body periphery at the open side thereof and a generally hook-shaped bracket on the free end of the handle compartment for suspensing the holder from a vertical wall or the like.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the toilet brush holder which is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded side elevational view of a toilet brush holder which embodies the principal features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the holder of FIGURE '1 with the cover member closing the same;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view illustrating the manner in which the holder may be suspended from the side wall of a flush tank;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view illustrating a modified form of the holder; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view illustrating the manner in which the holder may be suspended on a supporting member extending from a wall.

The holder or container 10, in the form shown in FIGURES 1 to 3, is adapted to enclose a brush-type tool 11 of conventional form and shape which is commonly used in cleaning a toilet bowl. It comprises, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, a brush forming portion 12 and a relatively long handle portion 13. The handle portion 13 is generally wood, plastic, metal or the like in the form of a rod of round cross section and the brush portion 13 is generally bristles or fiber or the like caught in a twisted wire formed into a circular or oval shape with an end of the wire secured in the end of the handle and the body of the brush portion tilted outof the plane of the handle.

The holder 10 (FIGURE 1) comprises a compartment forming body member 15 and a closure or cover member 16 both of which are formed of suitable material, for example, light gauge sheet metal, aluminum or molded or thermoformed plastic. The body member 15 consists of a bowl-shaped brush receiving or accommodating compartment or section 17 and a handle receiving or accommodating compartment or section 18. The brush receiving compartment 17 is formed with a cylindrical or truncated cone-shaped side wall forming member 20 and a flat or planar bottom 21 closing the smaller end thereof with the larger end open to enable the brush to .be placed therein. The handle receiving compartment is in the form of an elongate open sided tube of rectangular cross section integrally attached at one end to the side wall 20 of the brush compartment 17 adjacent the open face thereof so that the brush 11 may be placed therein as shown in FIGURE 3. The handle compartment 18 is open at the free end and the bottom or back wall 22 is extended and reversely bent to form a hook 23 which is apertured at 24. The length of the hook 23 and the length of the handle compartment 18 is such that the holder may be suspended from the wall 25 at an end or the back of the flush tank 26, as shown in FIGURE 3, where the holder will be concealed from view somewhat with the bowl 17 of the holder projecting beneath the bottom wall 27 of the tank. Alternatively, the holder 10 may be suspended from a peg 31 (FIGURE 5) extending from a wall 32 or the like, so that it is clear of the floor and does not interfere with cleaning operations and at the same time contributes to the neatness of the area.

Preferably, the holder 10 includes a relatively planar cover or closure member 16 which fully closes the face thereof as shown in FIGURES 1 to 3. The member 16 may have a narrow edge flange to telescope over the margins of the body or, as illustrated, it may have a plurality of marginal clip formations 28 which have sufficient resiliency to frictionally hold the cover in place when it is snapped on the body member. Alternatively, the cover may be hinged or removably secured in any other manner. Preferably, air holes 29, 29' are provided for ventilation purposes as shown.

A modified form of the holder is shown in FIGURE 4 in which the body portion is identical with that shown in FIGURES l to 3. However, the cover or closure member 30 is abbreviated and closes only approximately half of the brush holding compartment. The member 30 may be permanently secured in position or hinged, if desired.

While particular materials and specific details of construction have been referred to in describing the tool holder illustrated in the drawing, it will be understood that other materials and diflerent structural details of an 3 equivalent nature may be resorted to in practicing the invention.

I claim:

1. A holder for storing a cleaning tool for a toilet bowl which tool is characterized by a generally circular brush section and an elongate handle section extending from the periphery of the brush section, said holder comprising a brush accommodating portion having a bottom and a cylinder-like side wall and conforming generally to the shape of the brush section of the tool and an elongate handle accommodating portion which extends from the side wall adjacent the top face of said brush accommodating portion, said brush accommodating portion having a depth substantially greater than said handle accommodating portion with the bottom thereof in a plane offset beneath the bottom plane of the handle portion, and said handle accommodating portion having a hanger bracket on the free end thereof which extends from the bottom wall, which is hook-shaped and which is spaced from the brush accommodating portion of the holder a sufiicient distance to enable the holder to be suspended by engaging said hanger bracket over the top edge of the wall of a flush tank with the handle accommodating portion extending downwardly along the wall of the flush tank and the brush accommodating portion extending beneath the bottom wall of said flush tank, and the face of the holder opening away from the Hush tank wall so as to enable the tool to be removed from the holder in a direction laterally of the flush tank wall.

2. A holder for storing a cleaning tool as set forth in claim 1 and said holder having a closure forming member which is secured on the open face of the holder for enclosing at least a part of the brush accommodating portion and which is adapted to be moved to an open position to enable the tool to be placed in or removed from the holder in said lateral direction.

3. A holder for storing a cleaning tool as set forth in claim 1 and said brush and handle accommodating portions of said holder having open faces in a common plane enabling the tool to be placed in the holder and a closure member for closing at least in part the open face of said brush accommodating portion which is adapted to provide access to the tool for removal from said holder in said lateral direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 908,558 1/1909 Gildemeister. 1,479,800 1/1924 Feldstein 312-206 X 3,361,507 1/1968 ONeil 312206 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

